


Tim's 21st

by QuietlyContent



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Sweetness, Drunkenness, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 15:11:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10596594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietlyContent/pseuds/QuietlyContent
Summary: Tim Drake has hated his birthday since he was young, but with some great friends, a huge crush, and a whole lot of alcohol; it may be just enough to change his mind.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I want to go ahead and say thank you to everyone who has commented, left kudos, and read my work. It means the world to me and I cannot express that enough. I wanted some cavity-level sweetness, so this whole story is basically a sugar cube. Please let me know what you think, thank you so much!

“I’m gonna get you drunk.”  
Tim looked up from his newest coding series to see Stephanie standing confidently in his doorway, a broad smile plastered on her face.

“Uhm, no.” He said, casually turning back to trying to figure out why he can’t get this damn code to work.  
“See, Timmy-bear. That’s why I didn’t phrase it as a question for your input. It was a statement. A proclamation for times to come.” She gave her last words with a wide sweep of her arms towards the sky as she walked over and settled on the couch next to Tim.

“Pretty sure you need my permission to get me drunk, unless you’re planning on strapping me down. I haven’t sparred with you in awhile, but I still have a feeling things won’t go your way.”

 

Truth be told, Tim didn’t have any official plans for his birthday. He really didn’t know how to do birthdays since he came to the Manor; he never had to worry about them in the Drake’s household. His parents were never home or attentive enough to actually remember, but his nanny, Ruth, would usually fix him a dessert of his choice. That was the extent of his celebration, but coming to the Manor was something altogether different. Alfred always planned something elaborate, and quickly Dick and Steph had become his assistants.

This year it seems that Steph had more adult ideas for his birthday in mind.

 

Steph turned to him with a grin so wide it made her face look off center. She leaned in close before saying, “I have planned for everything, Timothy. Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing.”

That sent a chill straight up Tim’s spine. He really, really didn’t like scary-Steph.  
  
Before he could contemplate anymore, Steph was up and out the door, disappearing into the Manor without another word.  
  
__

He gave her 30 minutes before Tim was up and packing his backpack with all the gear he would need to hide out for an evening. If Steph wanted play this game, Tim was going to be a worthy opponent. Soon, he had a bag filled with all the electronics and iced coffee he would need until morning. Pushing the strap over his shoulder, he set off quietly out of his room and down the hall towards the back of the Manor.

 

He knew the schedules of everyone that frequented the house. It was approaching six o’clock so Alfred would be in the study with his nightly tea and a worn book being read again, Dick wasn’t on patrol tonight so he would be in the training room with an obnoxious 80’s soundtrack blasting away, and Damian would be making his feeding rounds for all the animals he keeps around the Manor, meticulously portioning the food specific to each of his plethora of creatures everywhere. The only wildcard would be Stephanie, who at this time would be done with her patrols and would be settling for her evening of studying for her Gotham U classes and binging some trashy reality show that Tim would usually join her in.

But not tonight. Tonight, Tim would be using the back staircase to the West Wing, that was only usually used when Alfred made his cleaning rounds or when the Manor needed to house a significant amount of guests, so it was perfect for Tim to make a quiet route upstairs and to the very end of the abandoned hallway. He reached up, found purchase with a small drawstring, and gave it a good pull before a hatch opened above him. As he lowered it, a ladder slowly slid down to connect with the floor, and as quietly as he could manage, Tim was up the ladder and carefully tucked away in the attic within seconds.

 

__

 

He was proud of his little setup. He had a few blankets pooled into one of the corners, along with a small lamp that he had swiped from the hall closet. After he had tucked himself into the blanket pile, he pulled out his laptop, and launched a quick proxy program that would scatter his I.P. He knew that was a bit overkill, he didn’t suspect Steph would go to Barbara to find him, or that she would agree to find him, but he wasn’t taking an chances tonight. If Barbara was to track his I.P. address, it was read that he was all the way on the south side of town; they could track him there all they wanted.

 

So now, finally, he could get back to his coding.

 

__

 

It was approaching 8 o’clock when Tim heard searching for him, he couldn’t make out the voices but he could hear in far off sections of the house the echos of people hunting for him. Even though it put him on edge, he was confident in his hideout. He doubted anyone but Bruce and Alfred even knew about this place.

 

Ten minutes later his stomach dropped as he heard the hatch creaking downward, and before he could even get up, Steph and Dick were climbing up the stairs and upon him.

“Got you, Timmy!” Dick cried out as he lunged towards Tim, diving towards his midsection.

 

“Oh no you don’t!” Steph yelled, hands latching around Tim's foot before he could scramble out, around them.

He gave it his best try, he kicked, and pushed, and grappled. But it was two on one, and they had weight on him, and Tim was quickly pinned underneath Dick as Steph loomed over him.

“No fighting it, Tim. You’re coming out for your birthday and it will be a fun, wonderful time. I promise you.”

He pouted, but there was no use in fighting it, that plan had already come and gone, so he gave a sigh of defeat before saying, “Fine, Steph. You win.”

 

“Yes!” Steph and Dick said in unison. She punched a fist in the air, high fived Dick, and then helped separate the two of them before helping Tim up.

She draped an arm over Tim’s shoulder when they made their way back down the hall, “I know how you feel about your birthday, but as your best friend, it is my duty to make sure that you have a celebration. And I’m going to give you a damn good one.”

At the same time, Dick clasp a hand on his shoulder and said, “We got you Timbo.”

__

 

He openly gaped at them as they approached a bar, no, _the_ bar of Gotham. Bar 1939 had only been opened about a year ago and it was already one of the notorious spots for the litter of Gotham to consume a weekend.  

Steph sauntered up to it like she owned the place, and Dick was still holding onto Tim’s shoulder either trying to be supportive or making sure he doesn’t make a run for it. Honestly, Tim couldn’t guess which at the moment.

Steph had chosen a tight, purple dress covered in sequins and a pair of black heels that he had absolutely no idea how she could even stand in them. Dick was in a simple black button down, with dark jeans and grey Chukka boots. For Tim, Steph chose a soft grey t-shirt with a blue jacket, which she paired with black pants and his favorite pair of vans. They looked good, mostly due to the meticulous eye of Steph, but she got the job done well.

She turned back to him, the famous grin back on her face as she grabbed him arm and said, “Come on Tim, it’s time for you to have a real birthday!”

She pulled him through the door, without even a glance at the door guy. That peaked Tim’s interest, before his forming question was answered.

They opened the door and inside was at least 150 of every nearby super or vigilante Tim had ever met. Everyone was busy bustling about, but when they entered the whole place erupted with a roar of happy birthdays from everyone.

 

It was overwhelming. He was sure it read on his face, but Steph draped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. “Happy Birthday, Tim!”

She leaned away and grabbed something from the bar before coming back to Tim with a glass filled with something bright orange and shot of something dark.  
  
He took it with a questioning glance before Dick, from behind him, supplied that it was a drink called a screwdriver and a shot of whisky.

 

Well, if he was gonna do this, he should do this right. So Tim slammed back the whisky and _jesus, fucking christ that shit burns_ , and quickly chased it with some of the orange juice.

__

It was only a few hours later, but the whole night had already gotten fuzzy. Tim was less sitting, and more cemented against one of the booths in the far side of the club. He was having fun, he would admit it now with an uncountable amount of drinks in him. Conner and Bart had just gone to get.. Something. To be honest, he hadn’t listened to what they said.

Stephanie appeared at his side, leaning on his shoulder.

“Hey Timmy baby, how ya holding up?” she asked, lifting off and looking at him with her grin now slightly clumsy.

He could only give a grunt in response, but the hilarity of that sent him into a laughing fit. Steph quickly joined him before quickly growing serious again.

  
“Hey, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I couldn’t snag Mr. Wet-Dream tonight. I tried, I really did.”

It took him a second to realize who she was talking about, but once it hit him, his entire mind swam.

 

Jason.

 

He had been crushing on Jason Todd for about nine years now. Steph had finally gotten him to admit it about two years ago, and ever since then she had been on the warpath to get them together.

Not that Tim was complaining. Steph’s intervening had actually worked in his favor and now Tim had a relatively strong friendship developed with Jason. Hell, they had even started making frequent food breaks together after patrols. Tim was on cloud 9.

 

“It’s fine, Steph. This is, this is really fun. I’m glad you did this. Thank you.” He smiled at her and felt warm in his chest because this was his best friend who had to have spent hours planning this for him, and she was just so great. “I love you Steph.”

 

Her big grin actually shifted into something smaller, but somehow seemed way more genuine.

“I love you too, Tim.” She hugged him and then stood back up and disappeared back into the crowd.

 

__

 

Tim was in too far. He was past gone. He was.. actually not sure where he was anymore.

At some point he had left the club, he had meant to, uh... He had something he was meaning to do outside.

Food.

That’s right, Tim wanted so much food right now.

He looked around the street corner he was on to try and spy someplace, preferably somewhere with a bright fluorescent sign and cheap burgers, but he couldn’t see anything. Just an abandoned street, all dark and unmoving.

Fuck, no. Where the fuck was he. This is not good, not knowing where you were in Gotham was a dangerous business.

He needed someone, but Steph and Dick were still back at the club. And that place is loud, too loud to hear a phone. But everyone he knew was also in that loud club... everyone but one.

 

This was the perfect idea. Tim really was a genius.

He pulled out his phone and scrolled to the ‘Jason’ contact and pressed call without a care in the world.

 

He waited what felt like an eternity for the rings to stop, but eventually he heard a connection.

 

“Hello? Tim?” There it was. Jason’s hot as hell, gravelly voice.

“Jaaayy! Oh my goodness, hey.” He was so pumped to be talking to Jason.

“Are... you okay?”

“Yeah, super okay...wait, no. Actually, I’m like totally lost.”

“You’re.. lost. In Gotham?”  
“Yes! Actually, I’m lost and spectacularly drunk.” With the last line, Tim waved his arm while he talked, almost sending him off balance.

“You’re lost and drunk. In Gotham. Where are Steph and Dick?” He could hear Jason’s concern intensifying, it made his heart happy.

“Not a clue, I guess back at the club, place. But they might not be there now, I don’t think.”

“Tim.” Now Jason sounded super intense, it almost made Tim upset. He was feeling so good before with Mister Concerned, but Mister Angry was very unwelcome in this happy time.

“Uh-huh?”  
“Tim, I need to know where you are.” Yep. That sounded like Mister Angry. Tim really didn’t like Mister Angry.

“Can’t help you there buddy,” he found himself really working to get that last word out, it seemed to get a bit lost, “because I have absolutely no clue where I am, that’s why I called you.”

Now Jason had ruined it, Tim was angry too. What the fuck happened to his happy-stomach-feeling?

“Well, okay. Can you read any street signs or anything that could help me find you?”

You know what, “No.” He didn’t want anything to do with the serious conversation anymore,he enjoyed happy feelings Jason, or sexy dream Jason.

And with that, he flipped the phone shut with a confident swipe and set back off to finding some sort of food buying place..? The actual word was escaping him at the moment.

__

 

Now he was sad, and it didn’t have anything to do with dumb Jason.

He had been on a search for what felt like hours, and still no food places anywhere. Gotham was such a big city, with so many different places for food. How could it be that Tim couldn’t find one of them??

 

He was sitting on the ground next to a bus stop bench. He was pretty sure that he had meant to sit on the bench, but something hadn’t worked out there.

Maybe he should call Steph, he thought, they might’ve left the club by now.

He reached down to find his phone in his jacket pocket, but came back with nothing. Where had his phone gone? When did he lose it?

He was so lost, and now it was getting a bit scary. He needed to go, he needed to find someone he knew. He tried to brace himself up from the bus bench so he could stand, but his hand slipped and he was back on his ass.

This was too hard, so he gave up. He put his cheek down against the cold pavement and it felt amazing. He let his eyes close and it all felt like heaven.

 

“Tim?!” He heard his name shouted from far away, but he still didn’t want to open his eyes.

He heard footsteps approaching fast, and then a pair of hands were on his shoulders gently shaking him.  
“Tim, Tim, Timbo. Babybird, come on. Don’t be passed out. Don’t be dead.” Wait. He knew that voice, that super sexy voice.

“Jason?” He asked, and damn did his voice sound rough. He opened his eyes and saw Jason standing over him, and watched relief wash over his face.  

“Oh my god, babybird. You scared the shit out of me.” Tim was still confused. Was he somewhere else? He looked around and saw that he was still on the same street he was before, the only difference now was that there was a red mustang idling across the street.

“How did you get here? When did you get a car?” Jason smiled at him, and extended his hand out to Tim.  
“Let’s work on getting you home first, I’ll explain once we get you in the car.”

Tim accepted Jason hand, but the force of Jason helping him up threw him off kilter and he swayed on the sidewalk.

“Woah, woah,” Jason wrapped a hand around Tim’s waist to keep him steady. “Someone can’t handle their liquor very well, can they Timbo?”

Now that was hilarious, Tim smiled wide up to Jason and slurred out, “I’m drunk. Too drunk. And you’re warm.” Tim snuggled into Jason’s chest.

He felt Jason’s chest shake with laughter, and he just went along as he was steered into the car.

It was an older car, maybe a classic, and a car that Tim was almost sure he had never seen Jason drive before.

 

“So, whose car is this?” He asked as Jason got into the driver’s seat.

“Roy’s. He let me borrow it to pick up a stray birdie.”

Tim looked over at him and lost all interest in the car, raking his eyes up and down he felt his mind wander, and said, “Has anyone told you you’re like super hot? Cause you are, so hot. I’ve been meaning to tell you that for forever now.” He slumped down in his seat, trying to make what he just said super casual.

“Oh yeah?” Jason’s head tipped toward him, but he kept his eyes on the road. “Maybe you should tell me that again Timbo, when you’re sober.”

He laughed at that, squirming in his seat. “But nooooo, I can’t tell you that when it’s serious. It’s best now, because I can say it without being all.. me. You know?” Tim was looking out the window as he talked, watching the top of the buildings pass.

“I don’t know, I think I like you being all you.”

Tim giggled at that, like full on couldn’t stop. He could feel this face growing red. He couldn’t think of anything smooth to say to that, with the almost-confession he had just gotten, so he switched focus, “Don’t let Steph hear you say that, she’d have a field day.”

That seemed to remind Jason of something, he perked up, quickly pulling out his phone, dialing numbers, and putting it up to his ear.

“Hello Dearest Stephanie. I hear you bats have managed to lose a whole person.” He sounded smug as he talked, Tim was still enraptured with the passing scenery.

“Yes, I believe I may be of some assistance to you. Seeing as how I have Tim in the car, right now, on our way to the mansion right now.” He paused and Tim could hear Steph’s voice raise on the other end.

“Don’t mention it, kid. We should be there in a couple minutes.”

Tim let his eyes fall shut again, his head slumped against the cold window as he drifted off.

 

__

 

Tim woke up to the strong smell of cigarette smoke, mint, and cedar. He also became aware that he was being carried. He opened his eyes to his cheek against Jason’s chest as they traveled through the mansion towards Tim’s room. He could hear Steph and Dick’s voices back behind them, but they were far.

“Morning sleepyhead, don’t worry, you’ll be back in bed soon.”

But Tim’s mind was on something else.

“You know, it’s my birthday.”

That got Jason to look down at him, a confused smile on his lips.

“Yes, I do know that.”

They had reached his door by now, and Tim leaned enough to show that he wanted to be put down. Jason carefully put him back on his feet, steadying him with a hand on his arm. Now Tim was able to look directly at him, which was perfect for the plan Tim had.

“It’s my birthday and you didn’t even get me a present.”

Jason’s confusion lessened as he heard the tone of Tim’s voice and felt the tension between them.

“Oh yeah? Did you have something you wanted in mind?” Now he was flirting, but he also wasn’t stepping forward. Jason was leaving this completely up to Tim. Such a gentleman.

A lot of the alcohol had burned through him already, he could feel himself getting less and less blurry as time went on, but he still had enough to feel the confidence he needed.

The confidence to close the space between them, lace a hand through Jason’s hair and pull him down to him.

 

The kiss was sweet and brief. Tim thought it was over all too quickly before Jason was pulling back and smiling at him.

“Happy Birthday, Timbo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes that are in here, I am my worst enemy and also my worst editor. This also might've been written in one night at 3am. Hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave any criticisms or corrections you wish! Thank you!
> 
> Also wanted to give a huge shoutout to my impromptu editor and best friend~ Rachel. She loves me enough to edit stories of fandoms she isn't a part of, and encourages me to an insane level. All my loves goes out to her.


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